Locking the joints of adjacent units of sheet-piling or other structural elements.



P. W. SKINNER. LOCKING THE JOINTS 0F ADJACBNT UNITS OPSHEET P-ILING 0R OTHER STRUGTURAL ELEMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1907.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

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O A 5. m Ef@ 5 LVWV Mfg ment for Locking the lUNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

FRANK w. smNNEr.,

Ol" TOItllDKNSVILLE, NEW YORK.

LocKINGTHJs Jornrson ADJACENT UNITS or` SHEET-FILING 0R OTHER STRUCTURAL l ELEMENTS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

.Application filed July 29, 1907. Serial No. 385,946.

v To' .all whom it may concern:

Be it known Athat I, FRANK W. SKINNEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at No. erman-avenue, Tompkinsvil-le, inthe county of Richmond and State ol' New York, have-invented a new and usefull Improve- Joints ol' Adjacent Units 'ol' ASheet-Filing or other Structural Elements, of which the following is a specilication. My invention relates toa device, added to a complete pile joint, to hold the different parts in engagement andv prevent the. separation of adjacent pile units when driven. It aiiords a very simple' and economical method oll locking ordinary tongue and groove,- lap or butt joints together -without the necessity oi' providing interlocking members in the joints themselves ya requirement that ol'ten complicates construction and involves difficulty and expense in driving.

The simplest andcheapest forms' ol'4 joints between adjacent units of sheet piling prof vide a sliding contact. but are not held tosuch a manner as to prevent gether except by friction and external pressure. Se long asthe different parts ol' such joints maintain their'desiredor norma! rela vtive positions, they may be very eliicient and exclude earth, sand even, to a large degree, qulcksand andwater, but they are liable and almost certain to'become displaced in driving .and lose much'oi their elliciency.

My invention provides clamps or guides at' tached'to one pile unit at one or more points pile unit so as, with pile` units and all parts ol' their joint, in close engagement and prevent the relative dis-- placement of the pile units, thus maintaining during and after driving a close joint substantially equivalent to one madewithintellocking members.

`Essentially. the device is a comparatively small piece projecting from the edge ol' one pile unit to engage a continuous shoulder on the adjacent' edge o 'l' 'the next pile unit in the displacement ol' the units in the planes ol' their webs and to maintain tlmengagement ol' the d il lerin eiiect a movable same ent partsoll the regular joint, thns'providing,l

lock which purpose as amuch more elaborate and expensive lock incorporated in the. regular sary thedevice can be mai-loto prevent transoi' the -the advance serves the If neces# 'clamps andsheet piles ma none of which interfere 1l?,

verse aslwel as longitudinal displacement oll the pile units. Usually it may sulice to apply the device to the lower end ol the pile, since if that is made to always register properly with the pile msj, driven and the p e is i plane the whoge malntained in the proper joint will be satisfactory. Additional menibcrs may however be added at various points in the length ol' the pile il' desirable to lock the joint at the upper end and intermedi-y ately.' In most cases the device isa single piece o1' a pair of pieces 'oi' relatively small dimenslens which engage a shoulder formed by'a groove or rib, formed by the regular elements pile unit wit-hout adding materially to the cost of the pile unit"l therefore providing the joint lock fora cost little if lany in excess ofthe cost of the small clamping pieces, and at the same time obviating increased friction or resistance' in driving.

One o1 the simplest forms isa plateseeured to and projecting beyond the rear edge of the forwardly driven pile unit with lits extremity bent inwards towards the pile web, so as to engage a continuous shoulder therein la hook nire manner and' thus hold the lower end ol' driven one in any position.

With. a tongue and groove joint or a lap joint a single ieee theoretically suiices to lock the joint iiut ordinarily I prefer to use` two pieces, symmetrically arranged on opposite sides or the pile web and ro-vidingP a Iam aware that Patent 527,469 dated alanced connection as shown in Flgure's 1 to 6.

pile against the previouslyy` Oct. 16, 1894 and issued to James A .Vliake- I lield 'shows a series of metallic spring clamps on one side of a sheet clamps however, as illustrated and described and specified in the claims are of radically different form and function from mine. rlhey are designed merelyto transform a lap joint to a tongue and groove joint and are especially' limited by thelr description and 190 construction to the development of contact on the ilat side ofthe pile units, with -pressure perpendicular to the web. Their 'on y function and their only possible action is to prevent displacement of two pile units in a direction perpendicular to their webs. lThe claims of this patent cover only thecombinations of a lap joint and yielding or'spring e of a plurality of thicknesses of planks,

pile lap joint. These in the direction parallel ,limit myself to any two `rnetalf sheet piles in any respect with myinvention. In distinction from this patent, my invention is not a part of the regular sheet ile joint, but is a separate addition applica` le to a coinpleted regular joint; the eiiective bearing of vthe locking pieces is not with pressure perpendicular to the pile Webs, but parallel with them, against shoulders formed by ribs or grooves, and the purpose of the clamp is to prevent displacement'of adjacent pile units with their webs, a function which cannot be performed by Wakeields device. i

My: invention is adapted to all forms of non-'locking joints on either wood or metal piles, and may obviously be modified in many ways to secure an interlocking piece on one pile unit sliding against a continuous shoulder on the adjacent pile unit, or it may be modiiied in various ways.

specific details but to inelude any sliding lock device applied to .a joint which withoutit would permit displacement of adjacent ,pile units and opening of the joints.

Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive show locks adapted for metal sheet piles with tongue and groove joints.

In all figures the same parts are indicated by the same'reference numbers. 5

Fig. l is a side elevation of the feet of in engagement with a tongue and groove joint locked by my joint lock. Fi f. 2 is a horizontal transverse section at Z Z ig, l. jaw plates forming the joint groove, 3, 3 are the lock pieces, riveted'to the pile web, 'with or Without. the clearance 4 between their projecting ends. 6, .6 are clearances between the bent ends '7, 7 of the lock pieces and the shoulder formed by the edge of the jaw plates 2, 2, against which they take bearing if the clearances, between the pile webs 1, 1 tends to become much wider. Fig. 3 is a transverse ysection through a tongue and groove joint similar to that shown in Figs. l and ,2, and shojws the joint lock made with pieces slightly modified to reduce the, clearance around the tongue and groove joint. Fig. 4 is a part of the side two metal pileunits with a tongue, and groove joint locked by special. bars 3, 3, having on I do not Wish to l, 1 are the pile webs, 2, 2 are elevation of the feet of of the joint of an adjacent pile X Y Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a vertical section at V V Fig., 4.

The use of a secondset of lockingpieces in the upper part of the' piles will .similarly maintain the upper parts of the adjacent pile units in proper relative positions, but are generally unnecessary since those shown at the feet of the piles always suffice to koe the units in engagement at one oint, an the upper part of the advance pi e unit can be maintained in the required position between rangers orother guides above the surface of the ground. I do not limitmy invention to sheet piles, but apply it to any other construction where it is desirable to maintain sliding joints in contact Without full length lock bars. The locking piece may thus be very short and inexpensive while the full length shoulderwhich it engages costs very little and is easily formedon the body of the pile.

I claim- 1; vIn a sheet piletongue and groove joint, a locking pieceattached to the male member of the joint and adapted to engage the edge ol' one of the flat plates forming the unit.

2. In sheet pile tongue and groove joint, short locking pieces attached to the male member of the 'oint and virtually forming a short section o a female joint inclosing the femalejoint of the adj acont pile unit and interlocking with the latter by means of an engagement against the rear edges of the elements of the female member of the joint.

.3. In sheet-piles, a tongue-and groove joint inclosed by a' short section ofl a slotted sliding sleeve attached to one of two engaged pile units. 1 4. In sheet piles,-a. double tongue and female part groove joint, the full length main groove being inclosed in a short auxiliary groove.

FRANK W. SKINNER.

Witnesses MAX Wniss, CHAsW. BnoKNAu.. 

